The day after…thoughts on toys and storage

If your house it anything like mine, it is still strewn with wrapping paper and cardboard boxes and littered with new toys that haven’t yet found a home. I now see why we were required to display our Christmas presents under the tree for a few days after the holiday; it probably took my mom that long to figure out where to put our loot!

Here are a few thoughts about keeping and storing toys:

This is the time of year that storage goes on sale. If you have any storage needs, now is the time to buy. For small children, clear storage is generally easiest, because they can see inside without dumping everything on the floor. If you use opaque bins or drawers, try attaching a picture to the outside so children who can’t read know what goes inside. This makes getting children to clean up a lot easier.

We are so overcome with LEGOS! I am planning on building this LEGO storage/building station I saw in FamilyFun. Heck I may even build two….one for the Duplos in Finley’s room and the other for the larger LEGOS in Cooper’s room.

Less is more. Now is the time to purge those toys your children haven’t played with in a while. Box them up and move them to the garage or attic. You can make a decision to keep them or sell/donate them in a few weeks. I know some people who regularly cycle toys in and out of the house. When a toy’s been out of sight for a while and returns it often seems new and exciting.

Did you get a train for Christmas? I love our Gadget Masters train table with trundle. It has a lid (with a chalkboard on the other side) to keep creations out of sight. The trundle serves as a second play space or could be used for additional track and train storage.

The boys love to play dress up. I bought a couple of Halloween costumes on clearance as Christmas presents. Right now all their costumes are stuffed in a drawer, which is not conducive to playing dress up. I don’t have room for a clothes rack, so Grandpa, the woodworker, is going to build a petite version of this coat rack.

3 Replies to “The day after…thoughts on toys and storage”

Hey Kirsten,
We were inspired by the Lego table in Family Fun a couple of months ago too. Will’s Lego collection was getting huge and he really wanted a dedicated space to build and even make stop-motion Lego movies. We went a little beyond and made it extra sturdy by going with wooden storage shelves from IKEA. We already had one piece of the IKEA shelves from 10 years ago (which they still sell) and added another tower unit and topped it with a piece of MDF from home Depot. All together I think we spent about $100 but it’s super sturdy and versatile in case his Lego obsession doesn’t last forever (yeah right). I’ll send you a picture. Thanks for all of your great ideas and Happy New Year!
Tana